Korean War facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Korean War In South Korea
Part of the Cold War and the inter-Korean conflict
Clockwise from top: A column of the U.S. 1st Marine Division's infantry and armor moves through Chinese lines during their breakout from the Chosin Reservoir • UN landing at Incheon harbor, starting point of the Battle of Incheon • Korean refugees in front of a U.S. M46 Patton tank • U.S. Marines, led by First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez, landing at Incheon • F-86 Sabre fighter aircraft
Date 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (3 years, 1 month and 2 days) Location Korean Peninsula, Yellow Sea, Sea of Japan, Korea Strait, China–North Korea border Result Military stalemate North Korean invasion of South Korea repelled Subsequent U.S.-led United Nations invasion of North Korea repelled Subsequent Chinese invasion of South Korea repelled Korean Armistice Agreement signed in 1953 Korean conflict ongoing Territorial changes Korean Demilitarized Zone established North Korea gains city of Kaesong but loses a net total of 3,900 km2 (1,500 sq mi) to South Korea

The Korean War ("Fatherland Liberation War"; 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was a war between North Korea (with the support of China and the Soviet Union) and South Korea (with the support of the United Nations, principally from the United States). The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border.

As a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea had been split into two sovereign states in 1948 with the border set at the 38th parallel. A socialist state was established in the north under the communist leadership of Kim Il-sung and a capitalist state in the south under the anti-communist leadership of Syngman Rhee. Both governments of the two new Korean states claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither accepted the border as permanent.

The conflict escalated into warfare when North Korean military (KPA) forces—supported by the Soviet Union and China—crossed the border and advanced into South Korea on 25 June 1950. The United Nations Security Council authorized the formation of the United Nations Command and the dispatch of forces to Korea to repel what was recognized as a North Korean invasion. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel.

The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no peace treaty was ever signed, and the two Korea's are technically still at war, engaged in a frozen conflict. In April 2018, the leaders of North and South Korea met at the DMZ and agreed to work towards a treaty to formally end the Korean War.

Events

Casualties near Pusan

UN Forces landing at Inchon

25^th June 1950

• North Korea invades South Korea and takes most of South Korea. The South Korean Army retreats to Busan.

July 1950

• United Nations army intervenes and lands at Incheon, a small port just about half-way down South Korea, from there on they fight the North Korean army and push them past the border separating North and South Korea and close to the Chinese border, just south of the Yalu River.
• China starts to feel threatened with the war happening so close to them and tells the UN Army and the South Korean army to return to the border and that they have no business to fight so far into North Korea.

October 1950

• The warning given by the Chinese is ignored by the UN (led by an American general, Douglas MacArthur) and so the Chinese army, called the People's Liberation Army, invades North Korea and helps the North Koreans fight the UN until the UN forces are pushed past the border separating North and South Korea.
• Because MiG-15s are beating America's P-80 Shooting Stars, the F-86 Sabre goes to Korea.

February 1951

• Fighting continues until order is restored and neither army is in the other country. Peace talks begin.

11 April 1951

• Douglas MacArthur relieved of his commands for making public statements that contradicted the administration's policies

March 1951 - 27^th July 1953

• Peace talks continue. On the 27^th July 1953 no peace has been declared but an armistice is signed by both countries and the UN withdraws.

Results

Related pages

• Cold War

Images for kids

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  Territory often changed hands early in the war, until the front stabilized.     Chinese and communist forces (Soviet Union)     North Korean forces     South Korean, US and United Nations forces

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  Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans fled south in mid-1950 after the North Korean army invaded.

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  A U.S. howitzer position near the Kum River, 15 July

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  Man of the Year, the American soldier on Time magazine cover, 1951

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  G.I. comforting a grieving infantryman

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  M24 Chaffee light tanks of the US Army's 25th Infantry Division wait for an assault of North Korean T-34-85 tanks at Masan

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  Crew of an M-24 tank along the Nakdong River front, August 1950

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  Pershing and Sherman tanks of the 73rd Heavy Tank Battalion at the Pusan Docks, Korea.

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  General Douglas MacArthur, UN Command CiC (seated), observes the naval shelling of Incheon from USS Mount McKinley, 15 September 1950

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  Combat in the streets of Seoul

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  US Air Force attacking railroads south of Wonsan on the eastern coast of North Korea

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  Soldiers from the US 2nd Infantry Division in action near the Ch'ongch'on River (20 November 1950).

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  A column of the US 1st Marine Division move through Chinese lines during their breakout from the Chosin Reservoir.

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  Map of the UN retreat in the wake of Chinese intervention.

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  B-26 Invaders bomb logistics depots in Wonsan, North Korea, 1951

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  US Marines move out over rugged mountain terrain while closing with North Korean forces.

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  British UN troops advance alongside a Centurion tank, March 1951

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  US M46 Patton tanks, painted with tiger heads thought to demoralize Chinese forces

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  New Zealand artillery crew in action, 1952

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  Men from the Royal Australian Regiment, June 1953

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  Delegates sign the Korean Armistice Agreement in P'anmunjŏm.

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  A U.S. Army officer confers with South Korean soldiers at Observation Post (OP) Ouellette, viewing northward, in April 2008

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  The DMZ as seen from the north, 2005

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  Korean War memorials are found in every UN Command Korean War participant country; this one is in Pretoria, South Africa.

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  A soldier of the Dutch detachment of the UN forces in North Korea prepares to return sniper fire, 1952

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  To disrupt North Korean communications, USS Missouri fires a salvo from its 16-inch guns at shore targets near Chongjin, North Korea, 21 October 1950

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  A B-29 Superfortress bomber dropping its bombs

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  A US Navy Sikorsky HO4S flying near USS Sicily

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  Pyongyang in May 1951

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  A USAF Douglas B-26B Invader of the 452nd Bombardment Wing bombing a target in North Korea, 29 May 1951

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  Mark 4 bomb, seen on display, transferred to the 9th Bombardment Wing, Heavy

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  Bob Hope entertained X Corps in Korea on 26 October 1950.

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  The Korean Peninsula at night, shown in a 2012 composite photograph from NASA

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  North Koreans touring the Museum of American War Atrocities in 2009

See also

In Spanish: Guerra de Corea para niños